Public Relations Tips for Small Retail Businesses

Retail is one of the most competitive industries in the business world because it specializes in the reason businesses exist: to buy and sell. Some of the biggest names in the industry include Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot. However, there are also smaller companies in retail using public relations approaches to grow their business.

Here’s how they do it.

Getting on Social Media

PR experts can’t say this enough, yet many smaller businesses ignore the advice, leaving larger businesses to dominate and take advantage of the free and low-cost benefits of social media marketing. Sure, retail giants like Wal-Mart might have almost 800,000 followers, but smaller businesses do well with even just a few hundred or a couple thousand.

Through social media platforms, small retail businesses can share new additions to inventory, upcoming sales and promotions, or the launch of new business locations. It’s also a great place to find potential customers, and foster personal relationships with longstanding buyers.

Reaching out to Local Publishers

Retail giants look to big news media companies like CNN or Huffington Post to share their stories and boost their visibility on a national and global scale. However, smaller businesses should take advantage of local newspapers, as well as independent magazines that fall into their niche.

For instance, placement in local newspapers boosts visibility even in a small town and help the company to communicate information about items they sell, big sales, and any other newsworthy announcements. They can also volunteer to be the local expert on their niche and provide quotes, soundbites or articles for the newspaper or the Pennysaver-style publications.

Setting Up an Online Store

Many small businesses started by millennials are not brick and mortar. These businesses operate online, making it easier to reach an international audience ordering items with a click of a button.

While building from the local market and then expanding outward is key, retailers should never pass up on the opportunity to market and sell goods online to a larger audience. This is even more important if the business sells something people might not be able to purchase elsewhere.

Celebrating Every Holiday

Business owners compete in an increasingly saturated market, celebrating every holiday helps them get another toe in the door. This is something big companies do that smaller companies can benefit from as well. Most big stores have holiday aisles for celebrations like Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving.

Smaller businesses can follow suit by ensuring they purchase some inventory to capitalize on holidays. They can also pitch articles to local publications showing how what they sell alleviates common problems cropping up during celebrations.

They might pitch last-minute gift ideas for men who forgot to grab something for Valentine’s Day, or pre-cooked Turkeys for busy career wives who might not have time to prepare a full Thanksgiving or Christmas meal from scratch.

Employing simple PR tactics, even smaller retail businesses can benefit from all that public relations has to offer helping them grow their business and boost sales.